Harper's Date Compleated Story
by Duke Jr
Summary: Harper on a Date
1. Default Chapter

I do not own these charaters. I am not an employee of Tribune nor am I receiving any money for writing this. Now on to the story.  
  
"Now listen, Rommie," said Harper. "I don't want you monitoring this room tonight."  
  
"Are you sure, Harper?" Andromeda's Hologram asked. "You've spent almost a month setting this up. Buying exotic food items from the Andorean Black Market. Swearing me and my sisters to secrecy. And, I find it bordering on the incredible that you actually cleaned up the Maintenance Bay. Not only cleaned it, but scrubbed it down. And the decorations...".  
  
The hologram gestured at the room. The bay had been cleaned and scrubbed. All the machines and works in process had been moved against the walls. Pink and purple decorations hung from every available strut. A single table had been placed in the center of the room; draped in black cloth with two chairs. The table was set with Andromeda's finest (courtesy of Andromeda herself).  
  
"Yes, I'm sure", said Harper. "It took me months just to get up the nerve for this. I don't want anyone watching me. I want to keep it private, just me and her. So I want you to cut off all monitoring devices in this room until I press the call button on that communications station."  
  
Harper pointed over to the small COM unit in the wall next to the door. "Also...".  
  
"Harper", the Hologram broke into Harper's rant (which she had already heard 8 times before). "She's approaching the corridor crossways now. She should arrive here in about 45 seconds".  
  
"Oh the Divine" Harper Yelped. "Rom-doll, help me. How do I look? Is my uniform on correctly? Do I look OK? HELP!"  
  
"Harper, you look fine. And although you never wore a uniform before, you look great. But you have no time for this. She's almost at the door. Good Luck Harper. Engaging Full Privacy Mode."  
  
Andromeda's hologram disappeared. 


	2. Chapter 2

She stopped before the entrance to Maintenance Bay # 6, and spent a moment nervously rearranging her clothing.  
  
"This is silly"; She thought and reached out to touch the COM unit to announce herself.  
  
"Well, this is it" , Harper thought as the COM unit buzzed. "I hope I'm not making a fool of my self. Wait a minute; of course I'm making a fool of myself. I just hope? I hope? Oh, please divine, please just let her like me."  
  
Harper reached out and keyed the door open.  
  
Her eyes widened in surprise. "Harper?" She said. "You're wearing a uniform? A High Guard uniform?"  
  
"Well, uh...Yeah", said Harper defensively. "I'm the Chief Engineering Officer, which, even though I never took the High Guard Oath, entitles me to wear the uniform. Rommie checked it out for me in the High Guard protocols. Something about conscripted personnel."  
  
"I wanted to wear something classy tonight. Something special. You don't think it makes me look silly, do you? I could change into something else. It would only take a few minutes.", Harper finished with a worried, slightly frantic tone in his voice.  
  
"No, don't change." She said. "You don't look silly. In fact, it makes you look dashing, Like the handsome and courageous Captain in one of those old 'Tales of the High Guard' holodramas. I like it."  
  
"You do?" said Harper in surprise. "Handsome and courageous, Huh? I don't think I'll ever take this off. And you, you look so unbelievable lovely tonight. I never saw you in a dress before. You look...Wonderful. Just...Wonderful.  
  
"Thanks, Harper", She said. "I wanted to look 'special' too. But I think I will take it off tonight. I mean, it's nice, but I don't think it would be comfortable to sleep in, let alone take a bath in. Naked is much better for that kind of stuff, don't you think."  
  
"Naked", repeated Harper with a stunned look on his face from the thought. "Naked. Yeah...Yeah. I guess that would be a lot more comfortable. Sure. Comfortable is good."  
  
She smiled. "Harper, be nice. I love the decorations. They're my favorite colors. And the food! Andorian Capri-mushrooms, HARPER! They're unbelievable expensive. And a non-export item, totally illegal off of Andoria."  
  
"Well, that's what comes of hanging around you all the time", said Harper. " I've learned how to 'find' things when I want them.  
  
This gathered Harper another smile from her.  
  
"Come on. Sit down and we'll eat", said Harper as he guided her to her chair. " I got your favorite; genuine Oraku vegetable sushi, created by Chef An-We itself, then immediately placed in stasis and shipped here."  
  
"He looks so handsome tonight," she thought as she looked across the table at Harper. "Although I really don't like the uniform. He's wearing it just to impress me. That's so nice. And so unnecessary. He's wonderful. Of course, he's so much younger than I am, but it wouldn't be the first time I've 'robbed the cradle'. Seamus is the first person in a long time to make me feel young.  
  
It's strange, he knows more about me than I've let anyone learn before. And it doesn't bother him or make him want to run away. Of course, there's a lot about me and my past that he knows nothing of. I wonder how he would react if he ever really saw the real me.  
  
I guess I just like the way he makes me feel.  
  
He's wonderful."  
  
She hurriedly looked down at her meal as Harper looked over at her. She didn't want him to know that she had been staring at him.  
  
Harper looked over the table at her.  
  
"She looks so beautiful tonight. And she looks so good in that dress. I never saw her in a dress before. I don't think she likes wearing them. She put it on just for me. She's so wonderful. Of course, she's older than I am. Very much older. Not that it shows, of course. And the age difference doesn't bother me. But, even after all the time we've been together as shipmates and friend, I still know almost nothing about her. She never talks about herself or her past. It's a part of herself that's she's hidden well, only showing the rest of us what she wants us to see. Just once, I'd like to see the real her, to know the real woman behind the image that she allows the rest of us to see.  
  
I guess I just like the way she makes me feel.  
  
She's wonderful." 


	3. Chapter 3

"Harper, that was a delicious meal", she said. "I'm so glad we did this".  
  
"Wait", said Harper, pressing a button on the side of his chair. "It's not over yet. I have one more surprise.  
  
The sound of music filled the room; the gentle sounds of violins followed by the sound of someone singing.  
  
"Harper, that sounds so nice and romantic. What is this?"  
  
"It's a very old recording of an ancient Earth song. It took me forever to find a copy of it. It's a group called the Righteous Brothers singing 'Unchained Melody'. They were an old earth group, long before I was born. Long before the Commonwealth. Back when Earth was all we humans had and we thought we were the center of the universe. Did you ever go see them in a live concert?"  
  
She seemed to think for a moment, her forehead furrowed in concentration. "Nooo.." She said. Then, more firmly, "No, I never saw them. Too bad; they sound fantastic."  
  
"Yeah", said Harper. "It's too bad. I'd love to hear a first hand account of an old Earth Rock Concert. They were supposed to be Awesome."  
  
"However", continued Harper as he got up, walled over to her and held out his hand. "It's beautiful music. It'd be a shame to waste it. Come-on, let's dance."  
  
She let Harper draw her to her feet, and they began to dance slowly. She let her head rest on his shoulder.  
  
They continued to dance as song followed song, each one introduced by Harper.  
  
"And this one", Harper whispered," is 'What a Wonderful World' by..."  
  
"SATCHMO", She yelled in excitement. She pulled back a little from Harper and looked up at his face. "I haven't thought of him in so long."  
  
"You heard of Louie Armstrong?" said Harper in surprise.  
  
"Louie Armstrong? No, I never met any one called Lou Armstrong. But that's Satchmo singing. I was on Earth for only a very short time. I was finding something for someone who really wanted it. Oh, well, never mind. They had these strange transportation devices called cars and ours broke down kilometers from anywhere. We were all wondering what to do when Satchmo came by. He stopped his car and rescued us. He was so nice and kind. He brought us back to the city and even got us into a club he was playing at. Harper, do you know he can play the horn? He's good. He's really really good."  
  
"Wait, wait a minute", said Harper in a loud, excited voice. "You met Louis Armstrong? 'The Great Satchmo'? You heard him play at a nightclub? After all these centuries, Heck, after all these millenniums, the man is still legend. What did he play? What did he look like? When did..? OH!!" 


	4. Chapter 4

Harper had been moving around as he talked, to excited to stand still. He accidentally stumbled into a coil of cabling that rose into the hoist at the ceiling of the maintenance bay. His attempt to step clear of the coil only served to entangle him further. The hoist mechanism detected the resulting tugs on the cable as a signal that something was attached and ready to be lifted. The hoist engaged and Harper was pulled off his feet and pulled upside down into the air, stopping when his head was almost level with her head, but upside down.  
  
"Oh Harper, that was so clever. Now we're at the same height, sort of", the woman said.  
  
"This wasn't on purpose", said Harper. "Can you?"  
  
"Now hush", said the purple woman as her tail wrapped around Harper and stopped him from swaying. "You know, Satchmo played a new song while we were there. He said was called "A Kiss to Build a Dream On."  
  
She took Harper's face between her hands and kissed him, long and slow. When she finished, she released his head.  
  
Harper hung upside down with a dazed but extremely happy look on his face.  
  
"Now Harper", said Trance. "This dress is getting really, really uncomfortable, I'm going to go and take this off, then I'm going to go to Hydroponics and go skinny-dipping in the pond there. If you want to join me, be there in 15 minutes, OK?"  
  
"What?", said Harper, still in a daze. "Skinny-dipping? Hydroponics? Right."  
  
"Good! Bye Harper!" said Trance as she skipped out of the room.  
  
"Skinny-dip? Wait. Trance. You've got to get me down from here. TRANCE! " yelled Harper.  
  
"Rommie. Romdoll. I need your help. Rommie, where are you. Oh-no, she can't hear me. I made her shut off all of her monitoring devices. Can any-one hear me! HELP!! Oh CRAP!" 


	5. Chapter 5

** Sorry it took so long to get the last piece up. To everyone who left a review: Thank you. I loved the response. To everyone who read and did not review, I hope you like the story. Well, this is the final chapter. Here goes. **  
  
As Trance left the Maintain ace Bay, she saw Rommie leaning up against the wall near the door.  
  
"Hi Rommie ", said Trance brightly. "Have you been spying on me and Harper?"  
  
"Hi Trance" said Rommie. "Now, how could I be spying on you? I've been forbidden to activate any of my sensors in the Bay or to enter the Bay until Harper presses the communications button".  
  
"Yes", said Trance. "But I know how very, very good an Avatar's hearing is. I bet you could hear everything going on in the Bay just by standing out here, couldn't you?" Trance smiled.  
  
Rommie grinned. "Very good Trance. I'm impressed. Harper built me and he never thought of that. So he never told me not to listen outside the door. Although you miss a lot without the video. Now, why is Harper calling for help?"  
  
"Don't worry", said Trance. "He's not in any danger, just tied up at the moment. Since he's not in any danger, you still can't go in there. Unless, of course, someone in the crew were to order you to. In fact, yes, Rommie, I order you to go into the Maintenance Bay to assist Harper...in ten minutes time.  
  
"In ten minutes ", repeated Rommie, raising one eyebrow and grinning even wider. "That would give Harper only about three minutes to get from here to Hydroponics."  
  
"You know", said Trance in a fake surprised voice. " Your right. He could do it, but he would have to run all the way. Then he would be all hot and sweaty. It would make him feel real good to get out of that uniform and get into the pool".  
  
"Sounds kind of fun, doesn't it Rommie?" said Trance with a big grin.  
  
"Your right, Trance", said Rommie with a matching smile. "It does sound like fun. I'm just going to hang around here for the next Nine Minutes and eight seconds. I hope you and Harper have a fun night."  
  
"Thanks, Rommie", said Trance. "I hope so too. See you later".  
  
Trance skipped off down the corridor.  
  
Finished 


End file.
